Looking Glass
by Bluel100
Summary: What Kingdom Hearts might have been
1. Prologue

*Fara*

Fara was dreaming, of that she was pretty certain.

How else could you be sinking deeper and deeper into an ocean without having any trouble finding air to breath?

However, she had doubts to that theory as well.

She never dreamt this vividly, or in colour.

She could feel the water touching her body; she could smell the salt and fancied she could hear the water moving around her as she went deeper.

The current caught her and she sped up going deeper into the water.

She began to corkscrew, spinning down. Opening her eyes, she found she was no longer underwater.

She now stood on the beach of the island that she, Talam and Speir hung out on in their spare time.

Looking around her, she saw Talam standing in the water, her raven hair cropped close to her head.

Fara called out to her, "Tal!". Talam turned and saw her.

"Hey Far! Come on in." she beckoned.

Fara started to move towards her, when the waters started to recede.

Fara's eyes widened.

"Talam!" Fara started to run towards Talam as the mini-tidal wave built up behind her.

"What?" replied Talam still facing towards Fara, not seeing the signs of the wave.

Fara reached her and the wave came down sending both of them spinning away.

When Fara came back up out of the water, the ocean was still and the sun was just beginning to set.

Looking around her, Fara saw Speir standing on the shore, their positions eerily similar to what had just occurred.

Not wanting to see a repeat, Fara started to wade towards him.

When Speir noticed her, he seemed shocked.

"Fara? What are you doing here! You said you were too tired to come out, you lazy bum" he said.

"I did?" she replied. "Why are you out here anyway?"

"You really are tired aren't you? Forgotten something 5 minutes after it was said?

And what are you, Speedy Gonzales, coming here so fast that when I left the mainland your boat was still there?"

"Well, you **are** a slowpoke!" Fara replied, a lopsided grin on her face.

"He-"Speir started to shout.

"Look! The meteor shower!" Fara interrupted him.

The two stood in silence, watching the skies.

"Hey, what's that? Speir asked, squinting to make out the object falling down. Suddenly, it came into focus.

"It's you Fara!'" he said as he turned to face her.

Fara felt queasy, and rapidly lost her footing.

Speir reached out but it was too late. Fara tumbled down, down, down flying through the air.

"What!" Fara thought to herself.

She opened her eyes and realised she was falling from the air along with the meteor shower.

This was actually getting ridiculous, even for a dream.

To go from such realism as a complete conversation with Speir, to falling **through** the ground into the air, was completely surreal.

As her head entered the water, the same salty tang entered her mouth, and she smelt the salt so much, it was though her entire world was made of salt.

The rest of her body followed suit and she began to corkscrew down.

As her dream began to replay itself, she finally turned upright and hit the bottom.

The **flat** bottom.

Whatever this was, it wasn't the ocean floor.

She took a step; exploring and suddenly the whole surface took flight as hundreds of doves leapt into the air, as it was now air.

When all the doves had flown, the surface was clear.

A circular stained class pedestal, with the image of a castle emblazoned on it.

**-This is my first fan-fiction story, so please review! Also, I have no idea how to do spacing, so if you can please give some helpful hints on that! :3**


	2. Chapter 1: Dive to The Heart

*Fara*

"So much to do, so little time..."

"Why did mysterious place like this always have voices that come from nowhere and left your ears ringing?" Fara thought to herself "Though I suppose a company rep appearing in an immaculate suit who told you everything that was going on _would_ actually be creepier." she continued.

"Take your time. Don't be afraid. The door is still shut."

"Of course, only tell me the bare minimum and leave my curiosity completely unsated."

"Now, step forward. Can you do it?

"Nope! You'll have to carry me. Jeezh. Pretty thick voice." Fara grumbled. She stood there for a good thirty seconds, pride not allowing her to take a step, before realising how foolish she was being.

She took a step forward into the middle of the circular platform, careful to take a light step encase the glass shattered beneath her feet sending her deep into oblivion.

And promptly fell over in shock when it shattered.

Fortunately it was only three small areas and was quickly filled by three stone pedestals. Fara stood up, trying to regain her dignity in front of this voice which probably couldn't see her and almost certainly was emotionless.

It was only when she stood up she realised the pedestals were occupied.

On each pedestal floated a weapon; a staff, a shield and a sword.

"Oh come on now, floating weapons! I never realised my imagination was this ostentatious." Faras scepticism was slowly fading, as she realised it couldn't be a dream. Stubborn as a mule, she turned this scepticism into outright disbelief.

"If you give it form... it will give you strength. Choose well."

"Sword. No question." Fara walked over and picked up the sword.

"The Power Of The Warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction."

The sword's blade was some black metal that when it caught the light glinted red. Its pommel was simple wrought iron. However, it somehow managed to give out an aura of honour, and the protection of peace, despite the distinct tang of blood that came off it.

"Is this the Power you seek?"

Fara was a bit put off by its appearance but decided her choice was right. Realising the voice wanted an answer, her cheeks flushed red, as she had just been standing there staring into the distance.

"Yes"

"Your path is set"

Fara held the sword up examining it. She quailed as she saw a bloodstain on its edge. She tightened her grip in determination and began to swing. At the climax of its ark the sword vanished.

"H-huh!"

"Now, what will you give up in exchange?"

Fara clambered down off the stone pedestal and examined the two other options.

The staff was made of glass, with a gold ornament on top that reminded Fara of a tree. It looked noble but fragile, as if the slightest touch would shatter it and cut you to pieces.

The shield was beaten iron with a leather strap attached to its back. It was sturdy but cumbersome and its wielder would not be able to go on the offence, instead protecting others.

Fara was undecided about this choice. She was not impressed in the slightest by magic, thinking it airy-fairy and not in the least bit practical, but hated defence and being weighed down.

"Right. At least defence is real. I give up the staff" she walked up to the pedestal and grabbed the staff. She handled it very roughly but the glass showed no sign of stress.

"You give up this power?"

At this Fara rolled her eyes. Here she was holding the staff out to this voice, saying she didn't want it and the voice followed its little ritual.

"I said yes, didn't I?

The staff vanished from her hands. The stone pedestal began to rumble before slowly descending into the glass once more, leaving not a single sign of their presence.

"You've chosen the power of the warrior. You've given up the power of the mystic. Is this the path you choose?"

"If I say yes, I mean yes, ok? That means yes."

The glass shattered. For real.

"Oh god!

Fara landed in a heap on another glass platform, her limbs folded beneath her. She slowly stood up, mentally and physically checking to see if anything was damaged. Once she realised she was ok apart from bruises she began to examine her surroundings and found she was on a different platform, this time with an image of a redwood forest depicted in the stained glass.

"You have gained the power to fight."

"Wow. Just... wow. I have **gained** the power to fight? You mean I couldn't fight already?" Fara got deeper into her rant.

"What about all that time I spent practising with Talam, Jaq, Rachel and Ben? Talam, Ben and I spent hours whittling out our swords from old driftwood, and hours more becoming adept with them. Jaq and Rachel didn't have the patience, so Rachel adapted her skipping rope into a whip and Jaq could knock you straight over with his blitzball. Jaqs weapon is better than Rachels, though our swords are better than the both of them." She continued, scorn entering her voice.

"Ben stuck with his original, crude sword which could beat Jaq and Rachel, but Talam and I came up with the idea of making new swords based on our experience. They aren't state of the art, but they were much better balanced than the originals. We're pretty evenly matched, Talam and I. So, your **gained** the ability to fight isn't worth much." She finally finished, her eyes glowing with derision.

Fara was about to throw her hands behind her head when the sword rematerialised in her hand. It was the same sword that she had taken from the pedestal, minus the blood stains and the tang of blood. It looked half decent now.

Fara swung out with it, gauging its balance and range.

"All right! You've got it. Use your power to protect yourself and others." The voice started "There will be times when you have to fight. Keep your light burning strong."

The platform Fara was standing on suddenly seemed more ominous. The light seemed to become dimmer and the shadows increased. Fara readied her blade in preparation for whatever came at her.

And what came at her was a shadow.

It was slightly mouse-like bulging glowing yellow eyes and antenna that darted around at every movement. Every surface other than its eyes were shadow black.

Fara swung the sword wildly in fright and the shadow turned back into merely an absence of light, instead of a creature of darkness. More of the shadows came to life and leapt at her.

Less frightened of them now, as they were clearly destructible, Fara got in to her stride and the dimness was soon lifted, and the platform was soon bright and cheerful.

"Behind you!"

Fara turned and saw one last shadow approaching her.

The hairs rose on the back of her neck, but she swung anyway. The shadow lost its shape... but held its darkness. A pool of darkness formed in the centre of the platform. It swirled and grew, twisting like a whirlpool. Fara backed away until finally she was at the edge of the circle.

The darkness sucked her down, pulling her slowly deeper, like quicksand. Her legs became submerged, then her torso, before finally her head was pulled under. The darkness filled her mouth and her vision was obscured into blindness.

Fara lashed out, her limbs flailing, trying to escape. Her hand bashed off some surface as she sank deeper into the gunge. Her back landed on the cold surface and her body laid to rest on it.

She continued to thrash through the liquid but it seemed to lighten, less slimy and more watery, until finally it was gone.

Light came filtering down, and she could see.

The cold surface was a third platform, this time decorated with an image of a range of mountains, they're peaks tipped with snow.

Fara sat up and looked around.

This platform was different from the others, but Fara couldn't put her finger on it. It seemed... fresher than the others, if that made sense.

She also thought she could see something on the other side of the platform. She walked over and there was nothing there.

"Great, I'm hallucinating now. Just perfect." Fara groaned to herself.

Irked, she turned and looked around the rest of the platform, listening out for the voice. As she turned she could clearly see a door where she had just looked. She wheeled around but it was gone again.

"This is **worse** than hallucinating. A non-existent door."

Fara turned around and a beam of light came down and a **treasure chest **appeared in front of her.

"This is just getting ridiculous." Fara muttered to herself as she bent down to open it.

She pulled the lid up and grew even more annoyed at this third platform at its lack of contents.

"Empty. Crap."

She stood and turned, hoping to see the door become solid. No such look.

Another beam came down and a wooden crate appeared.

"Wonder if a pot of gold will appear" Fara snorted

She kicked the crate and heard something rattle inside it.

Fara inserted the sword into the join between the two sides and pried the lid off. There was a bottle of some paste for wounds.

"Might be useful." Fara mused.

Fara reached in to the crate and pulled the bottle out and threw it in her pocket.

When she stood up, there was a door frame.

"This is more ridiculous than nothing. A door **frame**. Teaser."

She looked around and a barrel appeared.

"C'mon. What is this going to help me with?" Fara asked the voice, not expecting an answer.

In frustration, she readied her sword and smashed the barrel straight through.

She turned to look at the door, which was finally full.

"**Thank **you." She said her voice dripping sarcasm.

She reached for the handle but it swung open for her.

Instead anything behind it, light simply spilled out and blinded Fara. When her eyes had adjusted, she had moved location yet again.

Fara stood on the tree-top platform her father and her friends fathers had erected for them.

A walkway led around one of the tree-trunks used as a pillar, before finally ending in a ladder. There was another ladder opposite this, built by their grandparents for their parents, which led up to the biggest tree on the island, which over the years had become hollowed out, and their parents had built a wooden floor inside it.

If you walked along the path that had been built at some time or another, you'd come to a spring of fresh water with a small cave entrance beside it, covered in vines. They'd been the ones who found that, so it was still just a cave albeit covered in chalk drawings.

Then you came down to the beach, which led all the way round to the other side of the island, built by their great-grandparents, though most of it had been repaired so it was safe.

Fara stood there for a second and then she heard voices. One at a time they got louder, as they came up the ladder, and finally came in to view. They each went to a different place, silent now.

Jaq sat down in front of the walkway, Rachel went to the corner and Ben walked over to the wooden railing, which was encrusted with even more salt than the rest of the island.

Salt basically covered the entire island, from the smell, to the sight of it on things, and the feel when you touched something.

Fara realised what was different about the third platform. It smelt of the sea. Obviously some air came through to it from here.

"Hold on. The door won't open just yet. First, tell me more about yourself."

"Great. Voice decided to chime in." Fara muttered to herself to quietly for anyone else to hear.

"What's most important to you?" Rachel asked suddenly, her silver hair tied up in a high pony-tail

"Friendship, I guess." Fara replied, a bit off-put.

"Whadda ya want out a life?" Jaq drawled

"To be strong." Fara realised these weren't actually Jaq, Rachel and Ben, merely images of them.

"What are you afraid of?" Ben piped in

"Getting old." Fara shivered. This was creeping her out.

"Your friends are important to you. You want to be strong. You are afraid of getting old. You're adventure begins at dawn. As long as the sun is shining you journey should be a pleasant one."

"Sounds good." Fara replied

"The day you will open the door is both far off and very near."

The light levels on the platform increased until finally Fara had to close her eyes. When she opened them, she was on a glass platform once more. The stained glass held an image of a tower rising from an island in the middle of the sea. The sea was grey and stormy and it looked like it held the castle in siege.

Fara walked forward into the centre of the platform. A ring of shadows formed around her. These ones seemed to be able to turn into actual shadows on the ground, then pop back up to attack her.

They were dispatched easily enough anyway.

Once they were gone, another beam of light came down. Fara walked over, expecting something to appear. When nothing did, she walked into it, and it swung forwards, off the platform and a ramp of stained glass appeared. There were no images, just colour.

Fara walked forward and up the ramp, which led to another platform which had a pure black design apart from a crystal heart image in the centre.

There was a beam of light in the centre of the platform and Fara walked forward.

"The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.

Fara turned around and her shadow had been grotesquely warped and lengthened. Like the other mouse like shadows, it rose out of the ground and turned to face her.

"But don't be afraid."

The shadow continued to grow and take form.

"And don't' forget..."

The shadow was now 3 stories tall, and Fara's golden curls manifested as a purple mane that moved of its own accord. Her face was identical, but the rest of the body was only vaguely humanoid. Clawed hands, spikes on her back and a ball of darkness in its hands.

"Oh, crap" Fara now stood on the edge of the platform watching the fully formed creature that was Fara's dark side.

The Darkside threw the ball of darkness into the platform, and several shadows jumped out. Fara cut them all in half in one swing. She jumped up onto its hand, ran up his hand and crouched down on its shoulder.

The Darkside stood up, but Fara managed to remain up on its shoulder. She stuck her sword straight into it face in a jab, tore it out and then swung it straight into its eye. Half blind and enraged, her darkside released orbs of darkness which swung straight for her.

Crouching down to keep her balance, she readied for the attack. She swung the sword and redirected the orbs one at a time into the monsters face. It grew weaker until at last its strength was almost gone. Fara leaped from its shoulder but tumbled when she hit the ground.

Her sword scattered away from her and the Darkside stood over her. A pool of darkness formed around her and she began to sink into it.

"...But don't be afraid. You hold the mightiest weapon of all. So don't forget. You are the one who will open the door"

*Author*

**This chapter was really hard to right, as most of it is teaching controls. I hope you like it anyway, and enjoy the twist I have planned for Disney Castle XD**


	3. Chapter 2: Destiny Islands

***Fara***

Fara sat up on the shore, thinking about what had happened last night when she was asleep.

Reason suggested a dream, since she woke up after it, but it was too… alive to be a dream.

"Ah, what are the odds! Not high I'm guessing." Speirs voice broke her reverie

"On what?" She asked turning.

"That I would find you slacking off down here!"

"Oh. Those odds. I had a rough night last night."

"Obviously." He replied rolling his eyes.

Fara stood up.

"Hey Speir, what was where you were from like?"

"I told you about a gazillion hundred million times that I don't remember. Get it into your head."

"Would you ever like to go back?"

"Here's nice, but I wouldn't mind going to see it. Hopefully in a different way than I got here."

"How **did** you get here? All we were told was that you were found on the beach."

"That's all that happened. All I can remember is this huge vaulted castle, then here."

"Well, hopefully we'll see that castle one day."

"Hopefully."

"Yeah, well we'll never see it if I'm the only one doing anything." Talam said, her voice dry and sultry.

Talam threw the log she had been carrying down on the beach.

"And you're just as lazy as she is!"

"All right, we get the message." Fara groaned as she stood up.

"Typical." Talam muttered to herself as the three walked towards the raft.

***At Sunset***

Fara leant back against the horizontal tree trunk and stared up at the sky, magical with the sunset dyeing it many different colours.

"So Speirs home is out there, right?"

"Might be. Might be hallucinations on Speirs part though." Talam replied

"Oi, keep your mouth shut if you've nothing good to say." Speir injected, hitting her.

"What are you going to do once you get there? Fara asked them.

"I haven't really thought about it. I just know, I'm sick of the monopoly of this place, the feeling of being trapped here, in this tiny small scale place. I've got ambitions."

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you." Speir asked him

"All thanks to you."

"I'm not sure what to take that as. Good, or bad?"

"Good. Definitely. Thanks."

"Nice to know my orphanage and complete upheaval helped **someone**."

Talam blushed, something the steel like girl did rarely.

"I'm joking Tal."

"I know."

***Astrid***

Astrid sat beside her make-up cabinet while a maid applied it and another maid plaited her caramel brown locks and tied it with a white bow.

When they were done she stood up and admired herself in the mirror. Finding it to her liking, she dismissed her maids and walked over to her wardrobe.

Flinging it open, she selected a long sleeved shirt made of white silk, a silk skirt the colour of her hair, shot with golden threads and a thin golden belt.

She put it all on and departed from her room.

To make sure she would be on his good side, she called for a maid to bring up his breakfast so she could deliver it to him herself.

Astrid took it from the maid without a word of thanks and began the long walk down to the throne room, where her father would be.

She arrived at the courtyard the throne room looked out on, with the Hedge Palace, a small room where the walls and ceilings where made of hedges and flowers.

She walked up to the huge stone doors which were only opened for special occasions and walked in through the small regular doorway hidden by a hedge beside it.

The throne room was used for many feasts and plays and all manner of things so you could not see one end from the other. Astrid had always hated walking up the room when it was empty and you were on your own.

She walked up the throne and the words she had been thinking about the past few months died in her throat.

"F-Father?" Astrid asked to the empty space.

She walked up to the throne and saw a note with her father's seal on it.

She broke the seal and began to read.

The farther she read the wider her eyes went and the more scared she got.

"Father..." Astrid murmured to herself "I must tell Geoffrey." She turned and walked out of the room.

Astrid walked down to the barracks where her father's bodyguard was training. When she walked in, Geoffrey was resting, wearing only light canvas trousers. His tanned six pack was glinting in the sun and Astrid blushed.

He hadn't seen her so she backed away until she had controlled herself. Once she had, she walked back in and called his name

"Geoffrey."

He turned to see her and grinned a sly grin.

"What did he say **m'lady**?" Geoffrey asked her

Astrid paled "He didn't say anything. He wasn't there."

She threw him the note and he caught it deftly with ease.

"We have to tell the Queen."

"No! I have to do this myself."

"With all due respect, this isn't about you."

Astrid's eyes burned Geoffrey's back with a glare he walked away.

***Author***

**Please Review. All criticism welcomed.**


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